Roblox is now banned across Russia due to claims by a federal government agency that it allows the spread of propaganda, including terrorist activity and support for the LGBTQIA+ movement. There are already at least eight other countries in the world where Roblox is restricted or banned, and Russia's inclusion on the list is expected to block access to more than 2 million active daily users across the country.
First launched in the fall of 2006, Roblox has grown into one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world with over 100 million monthly active players immersing themselves in thousands of different fan games. Some of the most popular games available through Robloxwhich include but are not limited to Deserted, Rivalsand Grow a gardenposted daily rates of well over 120,000 players for November 2025, putting them ahead of the current daily player count of major Triple-A titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But despite the platform's popularity, it has also been controversial this year for a number of reasons, with the Russian ban being the latest example.
Countries where Roblox is banned or restricted
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China
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Indonesia
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Greece
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Guatemala
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Jordan
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North Korea
- Russia
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Saudi Arabia
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United Arab Emirates (UAE)
According to the Russian news site TASS, in early December 2025, Moscow's media and communications oversight agency Roskomnadzor issued a ban on the “distribution of materials containing propaganda and justification of extremist and terrorist activity” through translation. As detailed in the agency's press release, this propaganda includes “incitement to illegal sexual practices,” sexual harassment of minors, distribution of “intimate images,” gambling, attacks on education, calls for violent action, and dissemination of information related to the LGBT movement, which is also banned in the country. No specific games are enabled Roblox were selected by the agency and the press secretary indicated that the alleged violations were also linked to Robloxchat functions and other means by which players communicate with each other.
It is not the first measure Roskomnadzor has taken to restrict access to media originating outside Russia's borders since the beginning of Russia's military confrontation with Ukraine. The Russian government has listed Meta as an extremist organization, with Facebook and Instagram to be banned in 2022 and YouTube to follow in 2024. Also in 2024, Russia announced plans to ban Discord, which the country did within the following month, greatly impacting the country's gaming community. Individual games have generally managed to avoid inclusion on Russia's federal list of extremist material, which is populated by a number of films, songs, books, websites and religious texts from a number of different religions and philosophies.
However, several game developers have issued their own bans against Russia and Belarus following the escalation of hostilities with Ukraine, which includes Russia's occupation and annexation of the Crimean peninsula. These actions include the Russian EA ban Apex Legends and FIFAas the company's website confirms it has banned both countries from its esports programs, saying: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.” Other gaming companies that have suspended or completely stopped sales to Russia in the past few years include Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, CD Projekt Red, Bloober Team and Take-Two Interactive.
While a ban by the Russian government is likely to take a chunk out RobloxThe Player Counts isn't the only controversy the company is going through. Roblox currently faces child safety lawsuits from several states and individuals over allegations that it failed to provide adequate safeguards for minors and exposed them to sexually explicit content and exploitation by online predators. This year, the attorneys general of Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas all filed individual lawsuits on behalf of their respective states.
RobloxThe company's management has dismissed much of the criticism of the company as sensationalism, but it has also introduced some additional security measures after a backlash against stories of its alleged carelessness. The platform has been widely criticized for the lack of age verification of its users and these new security measures Roblox include an age estimation system that requires users to scan their government-issued identification cards and upload their own photos to the service. The platform has also restricted chat features for players aged 8 and under, introduced changes to chat groups that attempt to rank underage players by age, and introduced parental controls that allow parents to monitor their children's screen time, friend lists and content access.
- Released
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September 1, 2006
- ESRB
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Teen Content/Miscellaneous: Discretion Recommended, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), User Interaction
- Developers
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The Roblox Company
- Publishers
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The Roblox Company
